Gorkhaland agitation: GJM Gurung faction meets Rajnath Singh, demands dialogue

The Bimal Gurung faction met Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh at his residence in New Delhi on Friday (Express Photo)

Days after cracks emerged in the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM), the Bimal Gurung faction met Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh at his residence in New Delhi on Friday, requesting that a tripartite dialogue between the Centre, the West Bengal government and the Hill parties be started to solve the Gorkhaland stalemate. The team had GJM general secretary Roshan Giri, Kurseong MLA Rohit Sharma, Kalimpong MLA Sarita Rai and party central committee members Swaraj Thapa and Ashok Lama. Moreover, representatives of three other Hill parties — Communist Party Revolutionary Marxist, Akhil Bhartiya Gorkha League and Dawa Pakhrin Gorkhaland Rajya Nirman Morcha — accompanied the GJM leaders. Darjeeling MP and BJP leader S S Ahluwalia was present.

A statement issued by the GJM after the meeting said that as CM Mamata Banerjee had said that the Gorkhaland issue was beyond state government’s purview, the leaders urged Singh to begin the process of tripartite talks.

Condemning the recent spate of bomb blasts in Darjeeling, the leaders said the separate state of Gorkhaland will be democratic and work within the framework of the Constitution.

(With inputs from ENS Delhi)